The Cigna 360 Well-Being Index continues to reflect how consumers feel about their personal health and well-being. It comprises five pillars: physical, financial, workplace, social and family wellness.
Stress
Stress continues to affect respondents, adversely affecting how people feel about the workplace and directly contributing to the decline in physical health. Financial scores have gone up slightly, as people feel better compensated for their work and are more comfortable dealing with day-to-day financial needs.
Family wellness
Family wellness remains stable, and social health has risen, largely due to respondents having more friends to talk openly with, although they continue to be time-poor when it comes to spending time with them.
Geographically, India, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Indonesia showed the strongest improvement in overall wellness with a rise of between 2.1 and 4.4 points, while the US, New Zealand, Taiwan and Singapore showed slight drops, with New Zealand reporting the largest fall.
The sandwich generation
Out of all the demographics surveyed, the sandwich generation (defined as those between 35-49) scored lowest in most dimensions, underlining the fact that this group’s worries are on the rise while the response rate to their needs has been slow.
Given that this segment is the core talent group driving businesses, their general well-being will impact the way businesses operate.
Stress and workplace wellness
Stress in General: 84% of those surveyed say they are stressed, with 13% considering their stress unmanageable.
The top stress triggers are: Personal finance 17%. Workload 16% and personal health concerns 14%.
Stress at Work: 87% of workers say they are stressed, 12% feel their stress is unmanageable, with 64% claiming to be in an “always on” environment.
Lack of Employer Support: 46% received support but only 28% felt it was adequate. 38% claim no stress management support was provided at all.
Time-poor mentality: 26% of those who feel time-poor experience unmanageable stress compared to only 9% of those feel otherwise.
Working women
While stress continues to be an issue for everyone, women report higher stress levels than men:
- 88% of working women stressed compared to 85% of working men
- 13% of women claim unmanageable stress compared to 11% of men
- 61% of working women feel that workplace wellness programmes need to better address the specific needs of each gender
Ageing
Active Ageing: Approximately half of the respondents feel ready to face old age-financially, physically, mentally and socially, with millennials feeling most positive about ageing.
Insurance ownership: Insurance owners are more positive and ready to face old age: 54% of insurance owners feel ready to look after the financial well-being of their family, versus 38% for non-insurance owners. 59% of insurance owners feel more financially independent vs 42% of non-insurance owners.
Opportunities (or Lack thereof): While 54% of respondents anticipate working at old age, only 49% are ready to enter or remain in the workforce. 64% are willing to work with older people but only 32% think companies will hire them.
Affordability & Accessibility
59% expressed a willingness to consult a doctor, get a diagnosis and access different clinics through their mobile devices or computers.
Only 1 in 5 respondents see it as beneficial, perhaps due to a lack of familiarisation and understanding of how it works.
Heart health
77% agree that lifestyle changes can help heart health but 1 in 6 have not done anything about it.
23% of millennials have experienced symptoms that may indicate potential heart problems in the past 6 months compared to 17% of those aged 50+.
Cigna resources
If you are seeking a move abroad, we’ve prepared a blog post to help make the expat move less stressful for you.
To see the results in full, please visit https://wellbeing.cigna.com/
